Australia urges Indonesian action on drink

Australia will urge Indonesia to better police and regulate tourist bars following the death of a Perth teenager who drank a methanol-laced cocktail, Foreign Minister Bob Carr says.

Liam Davies, 19, died in a Perth hospital on Sunday after being urgently flown back from the island of Lombok where he was poisoned by the drink at a New Year party.

Senator Carr on Monday described the death as a tragedy and noted there had been previous cases of Australian travellers being hospitalised after drinking adulterated alcohol in Indonesia.

"We are going to make representation to the Indonesian authorities about whether more careful policing and better regulation, especially of the lower end of the market, might be a useful thing to do," he told reporters in Sydney.

He said Australia wanted a focus on popular tourist areas like Bali and Lombok to ensure appropriate safety standards were maintained in the preparation and mixing of alcoholic drinks.

"We can't enforce Australian alcohol standards overseas but we can make representations to see that young travellers are better protected from this danger."

Senator Carr said Australian authorities would continue to issue warnings to young Australians to be on their guard against material being added to drinks at bars.

He said he had asked Australia's consul-general in Denpasar to approach Indonesian authorities with Australia's request for action as soon as possible.

This material is subject to copyright and any unauthorised use, copying or mirroring is prohibited.